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The Infraction Point System - NEW INFRACTIONS 7/18/14

If you are not a new user and already know the basics of the infraction system, scroll down to the 2nd post for changes since the last thread

Hello SPPf users,
This thread will explain the Infraction Point system, our main method of moderating.

If you break a rule, you will probably end up receiving an infraction. Each infraction is worth a certain amount of "points," and the more points you have the closer you are to being banned. Infractions all have an expiration date (usually it is 45 days unless stated otherwise), at which point they will still appear on your profile but will no longer count towards point totals.

The standard infractions appear below. Note that Supermods and Administrators can give infractions of any value with any expiration date.

Also, there are some variations that can occur with the standard infractions. If you receive a Warning instead, you will have an infraction with the same description and expiration date, but it will add 0 points to your total. The other variation is the Extend option. Basically, if you are infracted for standard offense and then receive another punishment for the same offense, the second infraction will last longer. For example, if you receive a 3-point Spamming infraction (which typically lasts 45 days), and then 10 days later receive another 3-point Spamming infraction, your new Spamming infraction will not expire for 80 days (the time from the old Spamming infraction [45 days - 10 days] is added to the time for a new Spamming infraction [45 days]). Also note that this is not something manually done by staff members, it is now automatic and we do not choose whether to do it.

And remember that these are only active points, if your points expire they do not count.

When you get an infraction PM, you will see a message looking something like this:
and after you receive one, you can check the status of your infractions by looking at a tab on your profile, which will look something like this:

FAQ

1. I received an infraction that wasn't on the list. How does that happen?
Supermods and Administrators can give infractions with any description, point value, and expiration date. Generally they are given when the rule broken does not really fall under any of the standard infractions.

2. I got banned without reaching the infraction quota. That's not fair!
Supermods and Administrators can also manually ban users who they feel need it, even if they have not yet reached an infraction value. This can also be done in cases where users purposely break just enough rules to skate under the infraction limit. If this occurs a manual ban will be placed on you.

3. I was infracted unfairly! What do I do?
Your first course of action should be to talk to the moderator who infracted you. Sometimes we make mistakes, and even if it was not a mistake often the moderator can give you a better understanding of why you were infracted. However, if the moderator does not respond in a few days or you still wish to contest it, you can PM a higher-up by forwarding the conversation you had with the mod who infracted you first. The order is Moderator -> Supermod -> Administrator -> Serebii. It is best if you PM a higher up assigned to the section you received the infraction from, if possible. If your infraction results in a ban, then use the Staff Contact forum.
Please note, however, that infractions that are not mistakes are rarely reversed. And remember that you cannot see if other users are infracted, so the excuse "he did the same thing and didn't get punished" is not a valid reason because you can't see if other users get punished or not.

4. I got an infraction first thing instead of a warning! That's not fair!
Just because an infraction has a warning option does not mean you will get a warning first. A warning is worth 0 points, while an infraction adds points to your total. Warnings are often used for borderline offenses. It is mostly meant to say "I won't give you points for this but don't do it again." A mod is not obligated to give you a warning first, because you should know the rules before you make your first post. That being said, keep in mind that for most offenses you need to break the rules 5 times in a short period to even get a (very small) week-long ban. One or two infractions is not a big deal as long as you learn from your mistakes.

5. I got infracted twice for the same thing! Isn't that unfair??
You cannot be infracted twice for the same post. The system physically will not let you. What probably happened was you broke the same rule across 2+ posts and were infracted for both. Most of the time if it happens in the same thread or something, a mod will only infract you for one instance. However, if you are infracted and then after receiving the infraction you go on to break the rule again, you will be infracted again. Learn from your infractions and don't do it again.

6. OMG I DIDN'T MEAN TO BREAK THE RULES I AM SO SORRY HOW DO I FIX THIS???
Relax. Look at the point values for infractions vs bans. For most offenses, you need to break the rules 3-5 times in a short time period before you even get a small week-long ban. Don't make threads apologizing or anything either because it makes more spam. Believe it or not, the staff is not out to ban people (some of our mods have even had an infraction or three!) for no reason and as long as you don't keep breaking the rules, you will be fine. One little infraction is not going to ruin your entire time on SPPf.

More may be added as needed.

Last edited by Ellie; 20th August 2014 at 6:14 AM.

be sure to read the rules of every section before posting ;)

Little Miss Stalinist/Secret Al-Qaeda agents (i.e. Ellie) would be a ***** even if she was a conserative republican. What makes her the way she is happens to be the fact that the webmaster of this site let's her behave like this. (Of course, I would never make a liberal a staff member at any forum I'd be in charge of, regardless.)

Point value changes:
Mini-Modding: 5 points to 3 points
Posting more than 5 times in a row: 15 points to 10 points
Flaming/Insulting Other People: 3 points to 5 points
Providing Links to Downloads of Illegal Content: 3 points to 40 points

New infractions:
Discussing Illegal Content - 5 points
This was added so that users will still get in trouble for this (since, you know, it's illegal) but they will not be subject to the harsher punishments received for providing links.

Harassing others - 5 points
This is mainly for people sending unsolicited, rude visitor messages or other stalking behavior on the forums. In extreme circumstances you will receive harsher punishments than 5 points.

Intentional and Unintentional Plagiarism - 40 and 10 points respectively
Plagiarism has always been against the rules, and now we have added specific infractions to deal with it. The reason for the split between intentional and unintentional is because we feel there is a massive difference between, for example, someone Googling a sprite and using it without knowing it's custom and copy/pasting someone's entire fanfic and posting it. Obviously those are both extreme circumstances, but you get the idea. If you get infracted for intentional plagiarism, do not try to bargain it down to unintentional plagiarism. We investigate plagiarism carefully before a decision is made and your infraction will not get reduced if it's clear to us that you knew what you were doing.

Other changes:
Extend option has been turned on for most infractions. Basically, if you are infracted for standard offense and then receive another punishment for the same offense, the second infraction will last longer. For example, if you receive a 3-point Spamming infraction (which typically lasts 45 days), and then 10 days later receive another 3-point Spamming infraction, your new Spamming infraction will not expire for 80 days (the time from the old Spamming infraction [45 days - 10 days] is added to the time for a new Spamming infraction [45 days]). Also note that this is not something manually done by staff members, it is now automatic and we do not choose whether to do it. This is because after receiving one infraction for something, people should know it's against the rules, and as such you receive harsher treatment for re-breaking the same rule.

Ban thresholds have changed. These are the new point values that will earn an automatic ban:
15 points - 1 week ban
30 points - 2 week ban
45 points - 1 month ban
60 points - 2 month ban
75 points - 3 month ban
90 points - 6 month ban
110 points - 1 year ban
130 points - permanent ban
The point values on smaller bans were lowered and a few more were added in to keep a permanent ban at 130. As always, remember that you CAN get banned without reaching the "required" amount of points at a mod's discretion, so don't break the rules.

Note that these changes do not apply to previous infractions. If you received an old infraction for flaming it is still only 3 points, you will not be banned if you had 15-19 points before the change (unless some expire so you have 14 or lower and you get a new infraction to bring your total to 15 or higher), and your older infractions will not be extended. These changes only apply to any infractions given from now on.

You can post questions or constructive replies but do not spam this thread or it will be closed and you will see the infraction system firsthand!

Last edited by Ellie; 26th August 2011 at 11:13 PM.

be sure to read the rules of every section before posting ;)

Little Miss Stalinist/Secret Al-Qaeda agents (i.e. Ellie) would be a ***** even if she was a conserative republican. What makes her the way she is happens to be the fact that the webmaster of this site let's her behave like this. (Of course, I would never make a liberal a staff member at any forum I'd be in charge of, regardless.)

This isn't clear in Ellie example, Between Day 10 where the second Infraction and day 45, the person in question would have 6 points, 3 from the first one, and another 3 from the second one.

Compared to the old system, we've made it easier to get banned for a short time. Most people will usually work out what they did wrong. Under both this and the old system, it is possible to get banned in as little as two infractions, something we only do if you're really bad.

The old system allowed certain users that didn't pay attention to our warnings could just stay away for several months and come back when they all expired. This is still technically possible now, but they are going to have to wait longer as each infraction has to be served in turn.

As always, there may be some time after a thread is shut or deleted before you get an infraction.

EDIT: The report button works well to get a member of staff's attention.

Well, with the rules more heavily enforced with such a groundbreaking ban punishment behind it, does that mean there will be less people likely to break rules, or more people trying to find loop holes in the new set of rules? As is such, most users will look for loopholes, and will either tell you of them or will use it for themselves.

TL;DR- is this new set of rules loophole-resistant?

*signature does not exist. I have no clue when I'll even post again, really. :/*

Shouldn't there be a 'character abuse' infraction? For example- Spoiler:- Character Abusage:

&orz

Or is there one already up there, but I'm just not seeing it?

that would likely just be classed as spamming or disobeying the rules of a specific subforum (doesn't matter which since they're both 3 points). we don't need an infraction for every specific instance. the ones added were mainly to take care of situations that come up where we didn't really have anything to do and the mods had to use discretion. they're just meant to make situations more standardized so people get the same punishment for the same offense no matter who is dealing the punishment.

be sure to read the rules of every section before posting ;)

Little Miss Stalinist/Secret Al-Qaeda agents (i.e. Ellie) would be a ***** even if she was a conserative republican. What makes her the way she is happens to be the fact that the webmaster of this site let's her behave like this. (Of course, I would never make a liberal a staff member at any forum I'd be in charge of, regardless.)

These situations have been coming more and more often, admittedly I've only been on staff for less a year.

We've got rid of many of the Loop-holes, with the new infractions, in the old settings we could apply any infraction that we deemed appropriate, in some cases we had to pick between Flaming or Trolling for Harassing another user. Most of the Infractions are identical to the old set, except we extend them for multiple counts.

There is always a loophole, Nutter, sir. The problem with rules is that there is -always- a way through something. For example... Person 'A' decides to troll Person 'B'. He wants to do it in a way that is obvious he is trolling, but wants to do it in a way that he can't get infracted. So, he decides to take whats true about them, turn it into an opinion, and stretch it so it bends around the rules.

I know that there is no way to prevent a loophole, but I think the rules could use a slight... upgrade on how specific the rules are. Not to dog on the rules as they are now... I'm just saying they could be a bit more specific.

I'm sorry if I made you guys read this, I'm just very particular when it comes to rules.

*signature does not exist. I have no clue when I'll even post again, really. :/*

And theres a loop whole in the stalk rule people can stalk but dont talk about it

How can we moderate people looking at other people's profiles though? =/ Especially when guests can do that - if it were an infractable/bannable offence there's nothing stopping them just logging out and doing the same stalking business. Nevermind that it's a pretty rare problem as well overall.

There is always a loophole, Nutter, sir. The problem with rules is that there is -always- a way through something. For example... Person 'A' decides to troll Person 'B'. He wants to do it in a way that is obvious he is trolling, but wants to do it in a way that he can't get infracted. So, he decides to take whats true about them, turn it into an opinion, and stretch it so it bends around the rules.

I know that there is no way to prevent a loophole, but I think the rules could use a slight... upgrade on how specific the rules are. Not to dog on the rules as they are now... I'm just saying they could be a bit more specific.

I'm sorry if I made you guys read this, I'm just very particular when it comes to rules.

Problem with that is that there's always a different sort of instance with many of the rules, and to cover every main one in itself would take a lot of unnecessary space. That, and we usually take things on a case-by-case basis as well eg with trolling and all. But then again... in what way do you think it ought to be more specific? Just that I can see a few ways in what you mean by that - an example would be nice.

A parody of the Pokemon Colosseum game, full of pastries and Miror B.
Completed. Four times winner of Best Comedy/Funniest Fic.Avatar: minty-fivestar on DA, edited background/cropping. Fic banner: cieux.

If you mean split some infractions into several different ones (e.g. Flaming/Insulting Other People via VM, Flaming/Insulting Other People in threads, or the methods of flaming/insulting in separate infractions etc) than that's just be unnecessary clogging of the system. =/ IDK, but I feel that the current way in which there's one infraction for any sort of infringement of that rule just works better for clarity's sake (if we keep trying to name every specific way then people can as said just try other ways - better just to have a catch-all thing and treat it case-by-base and let people contact us if they feel someone is getting away with their actions via PM/the staff contact forum).

A parody of the Pokemon Colosseum game, full of pastries and Miror B.
Completed. Four times winner of Best Comedy/Funniest Fic.Avatar: minty-fivestar on DA, edited background/cropping. Fic banner: cieux.

Perfect World With Rainbows and Cookies!

Well, there is a handy thing called sarcasm that people can make quite obvious they mean one thing by saying something else. That could bend around the rules if done carefully.

I am not good at that and I like to be direct with what I say. So now If I have anger towards anyone on SPPF, I will have a teddy bear next to me and punch the ish out of it. That way, I let up out my anger and then I will revert to my kind and friendly self...

I can't say I really like this. At all.
Especially with the lower ban points thing. :/

Why is that, then? You might as well explain why you don't like it. =p Still takes multiple infractions of small stuff (5 or more in fact with cases) to hit the ban limit after all which'd only happen if you ignore the rules/previous infractions.

Originally Posted by R4GEKILL!!!

Erm... Why exactly did you change the system?

Partly due to people waiting out infractions before hitting bans, adding some more stuff that became more of a frequent issue, or just adding something that was needed (ie the less harsh talking-about-illegal-stuff' infraction instead of everyone getting the providing one), etc, etc. Basically a bunch of reasons.

Originally Posted by justinpg

... Explain Plagerism... where might it be used exactly in a forum?

People stealing RP stuff, artwork or fanfics/other writing posted on the forums for instance, all of which has happened here and on other forums. Not a frequent thing but certainly something that ought to be regulated.

EDIT:

I'll be damned if I use any of what's on SPPF as research for a term paper. Calls for an immediate "F"

If you give credit/ask for permission it'd be fine I'm sure, depending on what you use. =p

A parody of the Pokemon Colosseum game, full of pastries and Miror B.
Completed. Four times winner of Best Comedy/Funniest Fic.Avatar: minty-fivestar on DA, edited background/cropping. Fic banner: cieux.

Why is that, then? You might as well explain why you don't like it. =p Still takes multiple infractions of small stuff (5 or more in fact with cases) to hit the ban limit after all which'd only happen if you ignore the rules/previous infractions.

Partly due to the fact that I have 15 points now so a single more infraction will bane me, and partly because of how strict it is now.

This FORCES everyone to be nice to everyone. I wanna see how some will get around this...

Originally Posted by Nyter09

I am not good at that and I like to be direct with what I say. So now If I have anger towards anyone on SPPF, I will have a teddy bear next to me and punch the ish out of it. That way, I let up out my anger and then I will revert to my kind and friendly self...

With all these new rules, at this rate, SPPF will become a UTOPIA!

I agree completely. Serebii is getting waayy to strict IMO.

Originally Posted by Zibdas

Partly due to the fact that I have 15 points now so a single more infraction will bane me, and partly because of how strict it is now.

Next mod's post will = "Don't do anything to get an infraction / follow the rules" kind of post. >.>

Wow, Strict. Sppf Is gonna become friendly, or ban heaven, but I'm gonna go ahead & guess the second one. I Don't quite like the new system, not as a whole, but becuase of the Extend-da-points. Also, would somebody mind telling me what happened in Misc this morning? I come in & poof, Its Wiped. I get the feeling this isn't gonna stay open.